2012
Published by: Publications Team Press and Communications Service EPP Group in the European Parliament Editor: Robert A. Fitzhenry Responsible: Greet Gysen Address: 60, rue Wiertz, 1047 Brussels - Belgium Internet: http://www.eppgroup.eu E-mail: epp-publications@europarl.europa.eu
EPP Group in the European Parliament
Group's structure
The Presidency
Founded as the Christian Democrat Democratic Group on 23 June 1953 as a fraction in the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community, the Group changed its name to the 'Group of the European People's Party' (Christian-Democratic Group) in July 1979, just after the first direct elections to the European Parliament, and to 'Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats' in July 1999. After the European elections in 2009, the Group went back to its roots as the 'Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats)'. It has always played a leading role in the construction of Europe. The Chairman of the EPP Group is Joseph Daul MEP. He chairs its governing bodies and speaks for the Group in keynote debates in the European Parliament. He is supported by coordinators on each of the Parliament's committees and by heads of the national delegations represented in the Group. The operational needs of the Group are serviced by a Group secretariat, providing policy and organisational support. The Group runs its own think-tank - the European Ideas Network - which brings together opinion-formers from the worlds of politics, business, academia and civic society across Europe, to discuss the major policy issues facing the European Union.
DESCRIPTION With 271 members and 3 Observers from Croatia the EPP Group is by far the largest political Group in the European Parliament. Its membership is made up of: 42 35 30 29 25 14 14 10 7 7 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 2 2 1 1
Members from Germany Members from Italy Members from France Members from Poland Members from Spain Members from Hungary Members from Romania Members from Portugal Members from Greece Members from Bulgaria Members from Austria Members from Slovakia Members from Belgium Members from Netherlands Members from Sweden Members from Ireland Members from Lithuania Members from Finland Members from Latvia Members from Slovenia Members from Luxembourg Members from Czech Republic Members from Cyprus Members from Malta Member from Denmark Member from Estonia
271
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52
S&D: Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament ALDE: Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe GREENS/EFA: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance ECR: European Conservatives and Reformists Group GUE/NGL: Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left EFD: Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group
EPP Group in the European Parliament
Joseph Daul
Chairman
Ioannis Kasoulides Working Group "Foreign Affairs" > Committee on Foreign Affairs > Subcommittee on Human Rights > Subcommittee on Security and Defence > Committee on Development > Committee on International Trade
Gunnar Hökmark
Vice-Chairman Neighbourhood Policy and EURONEST
Jaime Mayor Oreja
Vice-Chairman Political Strategy European Ideas Network
Vito Bonsignore
Vice-Chairman Mediterranean Union, EUROMED
Ioannis Kasoulides
Vice-Chairman Working Group "Foreign Affairs"
Marian-Jean Marinescu
Vice-Chairman Working Group "Budget and Structural Policies"
Paulo Rangel
Vice-Chairman Relations with National Parliaments Communication Strategy
Manfred Weber
Vice-Chairman Working Group 'Legal and Home Affairs' Conciliations
Jan Olbrycht Vice-Chairman Treasurer Intercultural Relations
József Szájer
Vice-Chairman Parliamentary Work
Corien Wortmann-Kool
Vice-Chairwoman Working Group "Economy and Environment"
How we work
EPP: Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats)
NI: Non-attached
The EPP Group's political strategy is formulated in the framework of four Working Groups which coordinate its members' parliamentary work in the 22 committees or subcommittees. Their conclusions are made known to the Group, which then decides what position to adopt in plenary sessions of the European Parliament. Below, in detail, are the areas of responsibility of the Working Groups and of their respective Chairmen.
Manfred Weber Working Group "Legal and Home Affairs" > Committee on Culture and Education > Committee on Legal Affairs > Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs > Committee on Constitutional Affairs > Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality > Committee on Petitions
85
i n the E u ropea n Par l iame n t
THE CHAIRMEN OF THE FOUR WORKING GR OUPS
Corien Wortmann-Kool Working Group "Economy and Environment" > Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs > Committee on Employment and Social Affairs > Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety > Committee on Industry, Research and Energy > Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection > Committee on Transport and Tourism
190
E P P G ro u p
The Bureau, the Group's political organ, consists of: > The Presidency > The Heads of National Delegations > The Vice-Presidents and Quaestors of the European Parliament belonging to the Group > The Chairmen of Parliamentary Committees > The Coordinators in the Parliamentary Committees > The Chairman and the Secretary-General of the European People's Party, if they are Members of the European Parliament > One co-opted Member for every 10 Members of a national delegation
Marian-Jean Marinescu Working Group "Budget and Structural Policies" > Committee on Budgets > Committee on Budgetary Control > Committee on Regional Development > Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development > Committee on Fisheries
EPP Group: The major political force in the European Parliament
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THE BUREAU
As the largest political Group in a Parliament where non-socialist parties now enjoy a clear majority, the EPP Group is in a stronger position than any other to set that body's political agenda and to win its most critical votes. This strength is reflected in the fact that, since 1999, the EPP Group has been on the winning side of more votes than any other group in the European Parliament's monthly plenary sessions. Strength of numbers also ensures that EPP Group Members hold a range of key positions within the Parliament - 7 of its Vice-Presidencies, Chairmanships of 10 of the EP's 22 committees or subcommittees, and 2 of its 5 Quaestorships. Within the parliamentary committees, EPP Group Members are best placed to secure the right to author the EP's position on key pieces of draft legislation and other major reports: the Group gets more of these "rapporteurships" on more important subjects, than any other Group. The task of the European Parliament, which is elected every five years by direct universal suffrage, lies in exercising democratic control over the decision-making process in the European Union on behalf of Europe's citizens. Composition: there are 754 Members of the European Parliament, representing close to 500 million Europeans.
Salon de l’Horloge, Palais du Quai d’Orsay, Paris 09.05.1950 Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman
Alcide De Gasperi and Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Adenauer Winston Churchill and Robert Schuman
Our political position The Group of the European People’s Party (Christian-Democrats) brings together the political parties of the centre and centre-right in almost all Member States of the European Union. Since its creation in June 1953, it has played a key role in all stages of European integration from the outset to the present day. A very large number of the parties which are represented in the EPP Group also belong to the European People’s Party, the first cross-border political party to be constituted at European level. All of them are dedicated to the objective of achieving a more competitive and more democratic Europe in a social-market economy, a Europe that is closer to its citizens. As the largest and most influential Group in the European Parliament, the EPP Group exerts a major influence over the Parliament’s political programme. The EPP Group has made the most of the growing political role which the European Parliament has come to play in the European Union.
The European Parliament, which since the Treaty of Maastricht (1993) has shared the power of codecision with the Council of Ministers in many areas of legislation, has seen the range and scope of the legislative process expand with each successive Treaty (Amsterdam in 1999 and Nice in 2003). Currently, it is an equal partner in the legislative process for more than two thirds of the policy issues with which the European Union deals. With the Treaty of Lisbon, of which our Group was the main architect, the European Parliament has the power of codecision in all areas of European political life. The Group of the European People’s Party (EPP Group) is the most significant political force in the European Union, which is the direct descendant of the founding fathers of Europe, Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer and Alcide De Gasperi. By reaffirming their confidence in the EPP at the 2009 European elections, the citizens of Europe have proved that the values and ideals which it upholds are more modern than ever.